text: An operon contains one or more structural genes which are generally transcribed into one polycistronic mRNA (a single mRNA molecule that codes for more than one protein). However, the definition of an operon does not require the mRNA to be polycistronic, though in practice, it usually is. Upstream of the structural genes lies a promoter sequence which provides a site for RNA polymerase to bind and initiate transcription. Close to the promoter lies a section of DNA called an operator.